[list-cumbria] Carlisle Patriot, 24 Jan 1824 - Durham Sessions

[Petra Mitchinson]

Saturday 24 Jan 1824   (p. 3, col. 3-4)

 

STEALING DEAD BODIES. 

 

DURHAM SESSIONS.-John WEATHERLEY and Thomas THOMPSON were charged with having unlawfully broken and entered the church-yard in the
parish of Sunderland, and opened the grave in which one Elizabeth HEDLEY, deceased, had been lately interred, and with having
unlawfully and indecently carried away the body of her the said Elizabeth HEDLEY therefrom. To this charge THOMPSON pleaded guilty,
and WEATHERLEY not guilty. The former was desired to sit down, and the latter entered upon his trial.-Mr. LOSH, counsel for the
prosecution, opened the case, and gave a brief detail of the circumstances connected with it. Mr. COOKSON, also for the prosecution,
called -- SHOTTON, who said he lived at Sunderland, that he had seen the defendant there, who came to witness's house with another
young man. "That was him," (pointing to THOMPSON.) Defendant asked witness of he had lodgings to let. Witness replied he had two
rooms, not where he lived, but in Stafford-street. The two rooms were on the ground floor, and the door of one room led into the
other. Witness made a bargain with the prisoners that they might have the rooms for three shillings per week; witness said he
conversed with them both, and they looked through the rooms; there was no furniture in them, but witness put some in, and gave
defendant the key, and he (defendant) gave witness three shillings in hand for the first week. Witness saw THOMPSON in the room the
day he was arrested, but did not see WEATHERLEY there.-Francis MARSHALL deposed that he was a mason at Sunderland; that he was
frequently employed about the church-yard, and often saw the prisoner there. The first time he observed him was about a fortnight
before THOMSON was taken; he saw WEATHERLEY by himself, and he was talking to the grave-digger about the depth of the graves, and
the way they laid the bodies. Witness said he opened the grave himself out of which the body had been taken; the father of the
child, Thomas HEDLEY, and Mr. PATTISON were present. This was on the 29th of December last, between ten and twelve o'clock in the
forenoon. As he was digging down to the coffin, he saw that the lid was broken, and the persons above mentioned having gone to
another part of the church-yard, he covered it again, and went and told the father, who said they were not to mention any thing
about it; they then went and opened the grave entirely, and found that the body was gone. Witness said, as there was to be a funeral
that afternoon, they would watch to see if the persons (WEATHERLEY and THOMPSON) who were suspected, would come. About half an hour
before the funeral arrived, THOMPSON entered the church-yard, and sauntered about; and when all was done, witness said to the father
of the child, that was the man. Mr. HEDLEY then called the constable, and they took THOMPSON into custody and conducted him to the
watch-house, but did not meet WEATHERLEY as they went; while THOMPSON was in the watch-house, he said if they would protect him from
the populace, he would tell them where he lodged. As they were going from the watch-house to the east end of the town, they met
WEATHERLEY, the prisoner, near the barracks. Witness called to the others to take him, when he attempted to run away, but they ran
after him and took him into custody near the barrack gates. Witness said that he  with some others proceeded with THOMPSON to his
lodgings, and WEATHERLEY was taken into a public-house. When they entered the lodgings, in the first room they found a parcel of
mats, in the next room they found a box, and THOMPSON said it contained hardware. The father of the child was there, and those
present were afraid to open the box, because of the smell. They at length discovered the child, but did not know how to raise it.
Witness said to THOMPSON, "You must raise it up, you are best used to pack them." It was lifted, and when Mr. HEDLEY saw the child's
face, he said it was his child.-Thomas HEDLEY deposed that he had the misfortune to lose his daughter, and that she was buried in
the afternoon of the 24th of December last; that in the following morning he, with Mr. PATTISON, went to the grave. Witnes [sic]
said he put two stones, one on each side of the grave, and Mr. PATTISON put one at the head. Witness went once or twice a day to see
the grave, and if there had been any alteration in the grave, he must have seen it. He intended to purchase a burial place of his
own, but his child died before he had made the purchase, and the body was deposited for a time in another part of the church-yard.
On the 29th, having previously secured the piece of ground he had bargained for, he went with Mr. PATTISON and John LISTER, sexton,
to remove the body. (Here HEDLEY confirmed the testimony of the former witness, respecting the opening of the grave, the missing of
the body, the taking of both the prisoners, and the finding of the corpse in the lodgings.) He positively swore that it was the body
of his daughter which he found packed up in the box, which was directed to Mr. James JAMIESON, Leith-street, Edinburgh.-PATTISON
deposed, that he had heard all the evidence of the last witness, and that it was substantially true.- James HALL, constable,
corroborated the evidence already given by the different witnesses so far as he was concerned, and his statement was corroborated by
William WOOD, another constable. He further deposed, that defendant said to him, "If THOMPSON had not been such a fool as to tell
where the lodgings were, he (WEATHERLEY) could have got the corpse out of the house, and have thrown it over the barrack rails, or
over the banks." Witness said a number of teeth and an instrument for drawing them were found by WADFORD, in a drawer in the room
occupied by the prisoners. Some mats, a quantity of hay, and a spade were also found on the premises. The spade was concealed in the
chimney. WOOD stated that four teeth had been removed from the mouth of the child, which was stuffed with hay.-John LISTER, sexton,
spoke to the defendant coming frequently into the church yard, and sauntering about like other gentlemen reading the epitaphs. He
remembered him coming to him at different times, and conversing with him about his friends, and other indifferent subjects. He never
said said [sic] any thing to witness about the depth of the graves, and the laying of the bodies. In every other particular he
confirmed the evidence of the preceding witnesses so far as he was concerned.-Robert PRINGLE and John PRINGLE his son, two joiners,
swore to THOMPSON and WEATHERLEY having ordered three boxes to be made of certain dimensions. One only of these boxes was delivered,
that in which the child was found, which was identified by PRINGLE the younger, as having been ordered by WEATHERLEY. This ended the
case for the prosecution.-The prisoner WEATHERLEY, who had exhibited considerable ingenuity in cross-examination of the witnesses,
then proceeded to address the Jury, by reading a written defence prepared by himself, since his committal to prison. He began by
complimenting the learned Counsel (Mr. LOSH) on the eloquence of his opening speech, contending, however, that though he had left no
stone unturned to serve his purpose, he had succeeded in proving nothing but his own fidelity to his client's cause, and in
strengthening his (WEATHERLEY's) case. He then endeavoured to shew that though THOMPSON and he, who were strangers to each other
till very lately, lodged together, it was quite possible that the former might have committed the offence to which he had pleaded
guilty, without his (WEATHERLEY's) knowledge; and none of the witnesses had ever seen him in the lodgings. He was himself a surgeon
of seven years standing; and THOMPSON was a medical student. The child, he observed, was found in the inner room, and not in that
which he had taken of SHOTTON: and he begged them to bear in mind that SHOTTON had stated that he (WEATHERLEY) had hired only the
outer room. As to the box in which the body was found having been ordered by him, he admitted the fact; but he ordered it for
THOMPSON, who, being unwell, requested him to do so, he, THOMPSON, stating that he was going to send some hardware to his friends in
Scotland. The teeth found in the furnished apartment, and the instrument used in tooth drawing, he claimed as his, they were part of
his stock in trade as a dentist. He concluded his defence, which occupied nearly half an hour in reading, by expressing a hope that
the Jury would divest themselves of all prejudice and popular feeling, and would weigh the different circumstances of his case
calmly, dispassionately, and disinterestedly.-The Jury retired for a short time from the box, and on their return into Court gave in
a verdict of Guilty. The prisoner now requested of the Chairman permission to say a few words in mitigation of punishment, which
request being complied with, he proceeded to read another paper of considerable length, admitting his participation in the offence
charged, but declaring that they (himself and THOMPSON) were not prompted to the commission of it by the hope of gain-their views,
he said, were of a nobler and more elevated nature, namely, to improve themselves in the profession to which they both belonged. He
then proceeded to shew that no surgeon could be master of his profession without the study of anatomy, a perfect knowledge of which
could not be attained without practice on dead subjects. Surgery, he observed, is an art, not a science. Deprive the faculty of the
privilege of dissection, he said, and you will cause them to labour not only under a negative good, but a positive evil. He
continued this line of argument for some time, and finally appealed to the bench for mitigation of punishment, on the score of its
being their first offence-that they were both medical men; the necessity of procuring subjects, and their motive being
self-improvement. He spoke with considerable energy in the Scottish dialect, and was listened to with great attention by a crowded
Court.-The Chairman, after a short consultation with his brother Magistrates, sentenced the prisoners to be fined sixpence each, and
to be imprisoned in the gaol for three calendar months. 

 

(At the County of Essex Quarter Sessions, on Friday, Samuel CLARK was convicted of stealing a woman's shift, a bed-gown, a
night-cap, and a pair of cotton stockings, the property of James CHINNERY, the body of whose deceased wife he exhumated from the
grave, and intended to carry off, but was interrupted and detected. The Court sentenced him to seven years' transportation. There
were other indictments against the prisoner for stealing Mrs. CHINNERY's body, and the body of two other persons; as, however, the
prosecutors deemed the first verdict to have brought with it ample punishment, they proceeded no further.) 

 

 

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